someone gave me a powered aiwa ts-w7. I can't find any documentation on it.

It has three buttons next to the volume, 60, 90, 120.

What should I set it to? I have connected it to a high end kenwood vr-4700.

does anyone know where I can buy a nice powered subwoofer that is silver? all my satellite speakers are silver and i want it to match.

thxs.

Slocko, the 60/90/120 knob is to set the crossover frequency. (It could be to set phase angle, but a quick listen will tell you) It should be set to the lowest frequency at which your satellites are capable of playing.

Assuming the sub does not have satellite (output) terminals, you might have to set your receiver's bass management to cross over at a similar frequency, or to "large" or "small". (Either of these may be called "normal" intstead.)

If there is not a corresponding setting in the receiver which matches one of these numbers, you will have to experiment to see whether an overlap or a gap sounds better, i.e., sub-120 & receiver-100, or sub-60 & receiver-80, etc.

In theory, the lowest settings should make the bass the least directional.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

thxs Larry. I am surprised that on this high end receiver there is not a way to set the frequency for the crossover. on my low end pioneer you could set it to a number in addition to the small, large settings.

i will continue looking at my kenwood manual, but i don't see anything about subwoofer cross over frequency, just the standard normal, large settings. i do have a subwoofer peak level that starts at 30 db.

I have noticed with this new receiver the bass is much more less directional.

Sony makes several Subs that are color-matched to the Wega series displays. One of the models is the SAW-D200 but I'm sure you could find a "stray" from one of their speaker packages on ebay. (If you really want a Sony sub.)

The setting I find that work best for MOST systems is the receivers speaker settings to small, the sub setting to LFE + mains, and the crossover right around 100.

If your using speaker level through the sub, and then speaker level to your mains, you MUST set your receiver to large, Off otherwise you will get low or no bass from your sub.

Slocko,

I think you have to ask yourself what is more important. Looks or good sound? I am not aware of anyone that makes a "real" sub that is silver. (Sony,Bose etc etc are not what I would consider real speakers :)I think the Sheik was trying to point that out about the Sony. You could always buy a good Velodyne and get some silver paint. :)

ECHOSLOB, You had the guts to fan the fire that I was too wussly to even light. Yes !! I'll say it:
Slocko; Don't spend any hard earned cash on garbage Subs.
Someone GAVE you an Aiwa TS-W7 ? What would you say if they GAVE you an STD ? (Bummer !! That's what)

If I had a Sony sub, an Aiwa sub, and a Bose sub, what I'd have is three soon to be submarines !! Boat anchors !! However they end up there, they belong in a lake.

A few years back my wife bought me a small Aiwa system for the interim while I was putting my rig (system for you purists) together. It made semi-tolerable noise and I even hooked my NHT sub up to it for a while to enjoy (??) movies. She was going to buy me the TS-W7 sub, but in the nick of time, a German Shepard traversed my yard and left an admirable lawn sausage that was the same quality as that sub. (Made a similar sound too.)

The Acoustic Research neighborhood is as low as you should go. Find something that has black vinyl or laminate finish and then (I'm gonna get flamed) use silver contact paper to make it match. You could get a sheet of Formica in a very convincing metallic finish and have it laminated and trimmed at a cabinet shop, but you'd double the price of a mid-market subwoofer that you'd be replacing in 3 -4 years anyway. (Plus it would probably de-laminate and "buzz".)

After silver what comes next ? When everyone was buying black, I sought out and bought silver. Now I'm going black like most, but Wega silver is somewhat in vogue. Remember WHITE ? White Adcom, White Carver, White Kyocera, (White Luxman with rainbow colored "suckface" buttons ?)

Slocko this is one area where you should listen to your ears, not your eyes. My wife even remarked when I bought new speaker stands, and commented yet again when I put some 3-M earthquake putty (just as effective as Blu-Tack) between my stands and my NHT's. In other words this is a physics lesson you can sell.

I have and NHT SW2P and love it, they no longer make that model but the SUB one is probably good for you.

Pretty reasonable bass extentsion but awesome defintition..and for a resoanable price.

i hear you guys, but since my current setup is in my family room, it doesn't demand the best (just that it looks good!!!). The room is open with the kitchen behind me. But I will think about buying a quality sub.

thxs.

slocko: I'm using the NHT SW2Pi in my den, and I too love it. I didn't want to plug my own equipment or NHT, but Matt's opened the door and I must concur. On the other hand I took the SW1P home for a demo and returned it the next day knowing it would never be my choice for anything but my computer. That's been a while ago and I've not auditioned the SUB one. The SW2Pi was a good entry level sub (what I consider entry level) that reached for, and even grazed the high-end.
You should at least shop NHT (and others) with a blindfold on, forgetting for the moment that they're not silver. Your ears will probably tell your wallet what to do.


Okay, enough about Matt's and my antiques, and referencing discontinued model numbers.
slocko: My den's the same (room flows right into the kitchen). It's a sonic disaster and I have to try any tweek within reason to make it work. I am actually the voice of home decorating reason in my house: My wife's let me completely off the equipment leash and I could get a away with just about anything so long as we could still walk through the den.

In other words I'm with you on the "looks good!!!" aspect. Do what's best for your situation, but don't cheat yourself on sound.

Hey slocko: If you find a nice black laminate sub (most manufacturers offer at least a faux black laquer finish in every model) you could take it to an automotive paint shop and have some JAMMIN' silver auto paint mixed up to exactly match your other silver pieces. Modern auto paint would take all the guacamole you might happen to spill on it, and it's as tough as nails. You might get out the door for 30 to 50 bucks. Maybe just for the cost of the paint if you have friends in that industry.

Bottom line: If there are any GOOD silver subs out there I'm not aware of them, and nobody else seems to have found any good ones either. If it's gotta be silver you will probably have to do it yourself.

Sheik, yours is more modern than mine LOL. I don't have the 'improved' model. The only difference is the flared port and 20 extra watts in the amp.

I would say without question that that was the best sub for under 1000.00. Even probably now.

Matt, you won't believe this. I had already purchased the sub and a master carton (6) of SuperZeros, all special order in Oak finish. I had a lot going on in my life and could not finish my den install so the speakers sat in my garage. When I purchased the sub the SW2P was what I auditioned, and what was written on my invoice, so that's what I thought I bought. Meanwhile the 'Pi came out. I cried tears, spoke to my dealer, and they graciously offered to trade me out seeing as how the product was unused. Only caveat: I could no longer get an Oak sub, only black or Sycamore (??).

My wife came in later that week with Independence Day and we started watching it but with no LFE's. I turned it off and went to the garage to kamikaze the SW2P into the system. Low and behold the box WAS marked SW2Pi. NHT had melded all '2P special orders into the newly released 'Pi and just started shipping 'Pi's in place of 'P's. I got my Oak (to sate the Martha Stewart in me) and my 'Pi too.

I retain and still review (whenever I run across it) the NHT/Stereophile white paper on that sub/speaker combo. I gotta' agree with you; antique or no, even in today's market it's still a great sub at that pricepoint.

Still have a pair of SuperZero's for my rears. Gotta get something bigger soon. Anyone interested in a great set of small bookshelves? In black?

Matt: NHT was recently pushing the VT-2.4 towers WITH the VS-2.4 center and surrounds, 2 grand total for the 5 piece set on factory closeout. My local dealer sold set after set of these. I watched the supply in the stockroom dwindle until they were gone. (Whaaaah !)

Once you listen to these you may consider re-assigning your SW2P to a second career. They facilitate biamping so you can treat the upper part of the front speakers as your mains and have two capable LFE transducers.

They just would not work in my den and I had to deny myself. I figure that's what I get for not having a dedicated room and something better will come along by the time I do. Until then, it's 'Zeros.

slocko: I apologize for swerving so far from your original post, however if looks are one of your main criteria then towers with side firing woofers could clean up your den quite nicely.

I guess I've found that nothing quite compares to a stand alone sub. Built in 'bass' drivers still don't have the bass extension like a dedicated sub. IMHO